Local SEO Optimization: It Matters!

When a potential customer opens their browser window to search for a local business, Google looks at the words they key in (called “keywords”) and uses those words to gather and rank results.

If search engines don’t find the same keywords on your website to match what that customer is looking for, your business won’t be listed in the results!

As a local business competing for a limited number of local customers, achieving this goal goes beyond general SEO (search engine optimization).

Here, what you need instead is a LOCAL SEO campaign. Here are three key tools we employ to boost your website’s ability to help your company connect with local prospective customers:

– SEO for local customers: Using tools like NAP data and schema markup, we give search engines clear virtual “directions” to your business.

– Maps for local customers: Google maps is now the pre-eminent default tool for most search engines. From generating customer reviews to claiming listings, completing your Google Maps biz profile to standardizing your NAP data, we make sure Google maps can find your company online.

– Marketing for local customers: What do your local customer prospects want most? Will they find what they are looking for on your website? We make sure they will by crafting content that matches customer wants and needs.

Local Link-Building: It Is Key!

“Link-building” is a term that describes how traffic patterns are created online that lead back to your website.

Not surprisingly, this can take some strategizing! Just as you may need to find a different route to work on days when there is an unexpected pile-up or new construction, so too does your link-building strategy need to evolve continually to keep all roads leading to your website.

We use each of these time-tested, reliable and reputable tools to create and maintain your website’s link-building “map:”

– Online local business listing tools: Yelp, Yellowpages and Angie’s List are just some of the tools Google turns to for delivering highly-tailored local search engine results by business listing. We optimize these local listings to ensure your company comes up in the search results.

– Respected local referral websites: From the local Chamber of Commerce to highly regarded local “what to do” blogs, we identify the top local websites and begin building your presence on these sites.

– Authority websites: In every industry there are certain key websites that are recognized as “authority sites” for businesses in that industry. These sites can be referral hubs for local customers, so we use our technology to identify these sites and develop link-building relationships for your website.

Local SEO Results: Know Your Status!

When we launch your local SEO strategy, it is only natural to want to know how your website is performing right from day one. While it can take a bit of time and patience to gather sufficient data to generate accurate reports, once we have this data in hand, so do you.

Here is how we show you what type of results your investment is generating:

– You vs. your competition: We provide you with local ranking summaries that show where your website stands next to your competitors. You can log in at any time to view the latest results (results update once per 24-hour period).

– Link-building progress: When new links back to your website are generated, you will be the first to know. The same holds true for local referral websites and authority websites.

– Real-time analytics: Analytics = analysis. What do your results mean – truly? We interpret the data so we can all work together to capture breaking opportunities and restructure your campaign as needed/desired.

CASE STUDY: 400 Percent Increase in Inbound “Organic” Leads!

One local roofing company with nearly 20 years of industry expertise was struggling to come into the e-commerce age.

With a loyal existing clientele yet dwindling new referrals, the company was struggling to service existing customers while working behind the scenes to learn about website building, marketing and local SEO.

Not surprisingly, the company owners didn’t have a lot of time left over from their day-to-day customer calls to learn online marketing and deploy it too. So they reached out to us for help.

Together, we contributed our expert knowledge of local SEO and they contributed their expert knowledge of serving local roofing customers and we crafted a cutting-edge website optimization and marketing plan.

To date, the company is experiencing a 400 percent increase in local referrals since the campaign deployed!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What Is Local SEO?

A: Local SEO means “local search engine optimization.” Optimizing your website for local SEO means that when a local customer in your business area searches online for a company that does what you do, they will see your business listing pop up!

Q: What guarantee do we have that a local SEO campaign will work for us?

A: This is a great question! Truthfully, Google changes their algorithm (how they look for keywords and rank results) all the time. In such a fluid online environment, guaranteeing specific results is just not possible.

What IS possible is benchmarking potential results based on past data from similar local SEO marketing campaigns. Truly reputable SEO companies provide benchmarking with real-time updates rather than guarantees.

Q: Will my local SEO campaign be outsourced to some third-party contractor?

A: In a word: NO. We do all of our SEO campaign work in-house with a hand-picked team of proven industry experts.

Q: How quickly will we begin to know the outcome of our local SEO campaign?

A: We’d love to say “the day your campaign begins!” But in reality, it takes a bit of time to generate daily data so we have sufficient amounts to construct an accurate picture of how your campaign is performing.

It is important to have the mindset that is focused more on the big picture and long-term positive change than looking for a short-term quick fix (although we know this can be challenging if you are really frustrated with your previous SEO efforts)!

Here is what we can tell you for a fact: within 90 days of your campaign launch, our clients typically begin to see quantifiable increases in inbound traffic and new prospect referrals.

Q: Why do we need a local SEO campaign (versus just a SEO campaign)?

A: If you primarily serve a local customer base, general SEO typically isn’t going to be able to deliver the results you need – it is too broad-based. When a prospect performs an online search, Google automatically detects that prospect’s location and delivers a selection of local results that are prioritized in the results list. If your website isn’t prioritized for your business location, your company won’t show up.

Q: Why choose you to handle our SEO needs?

A: Thanks for asking! We are proud of our expert team and customer testimonials. We are very good at what we do and get better every day.

Q: What will a local SEO campaign cost?

A: Campaign cost is directly related to campaign goals. That being said, we are happy to work with you to design a campaign that will work for your budget.

Q: Will we need a website overhaul?

A: It depends. In most cases, we focus on making minor but significant adjustments to key pages of content that will better serve your SEO campaign goals.